Delaware's last drive-in theater to close

November 28, 2008 5:44:36 AM PST

FELTON, Del. (AP) - November 28, 2008 --

Delaware's last operating drive-in theater is about to go the way of backyard bomb shelters and 45 rpm records. The Diamond State Drive-In Theater near Felton will screen its last public film on Saturday.

Operator Donald Brown announced earlier this year that the 2008 season would be the last for the drive-in. The land is now for sale.

The theater opened in August 1949. The original owners, Albert and Mildred Steele, leased the theater in 1966 to a company that showed adult films until 1985. The screens went dark until the early 1990s, when Brown and Patricia Creigh decided to reopen the drive-in.

The land remained in the Steele family, and Brown says he can't afford to buy the property.